Don't Wake Me Up!
by Kamilia
Summary: Atem had been Anzu's boss for a few days till they had a one night stand. The next day he fried her. Now nine years later Anzu walks back into town and Atem is going to show her what he should have done nine years ago.
1. The Plan

The lawyer was slick, smooth and kinda cute and has the most immaculately, manicured hands that Anzu had ever seen.

"Okay, Anzu, if you would sign there for me please." He jabbed a near perfect fingernail onto the contract. "It's right there, see?"

She was almost tempted to ask if she was blind, since it was the only line that had signed here, in pencil with a cross. "You mean where your secretary has helpfully drawn a little cross?"

He quickly amended. "I didn't mean to patronise you."

"Sure you didn't." She drew for a pen and signed her name. "I am just glad it's over."

Duke Devlin didn't look like he shared the feeling. Congratulations, Anzu!" He held his hand out. ""And I wish you success for the future."

"Thank you." She replied, hoping not sound smug or triumphant because she knew she should be neither. She was just lucky, though some people say there is no such thing. She picked up her light pink silk jacket and gave Duke a grateful smile. He had guided her though all the paperwork concerning the purchase with the care of a soldier negotiating a treacherous minefield. Most importantly of all, he kept the whole think quiet. She owed him. "Would you like to have lunch with me?"

He blinked before asking, "Come again?"

"Me and you, you know have lunch together." She glanced at her watch. "Say one O clock? In the New Hampshire?"

"The New Hampshire? You mean Atem Mutou's place? I would love to but we won't get a table today, not on such short notice." Duke mentioned.

"I know that." Anzu smiled. "Which is why I took the precaution of making reservations a few weeks ago."

He frowned. "You were so positive that we would have gotten though today, weren't you?"

"Pretty much. I knew the court hearing to get my licence was today and I didn't foresee any problems."

"Your are a very confident woman Anzu Mazaki." He told her softly. "As well as an extremely beautiful one."

It was a pity that some men saw a simple gesture as an invitation to form some deep and meaningful relationship.

"Don't get the wrong idea, Duke. This is purely a business lunch. A way of me thanking you for all your hard way, that's all and nothing more." Anzu informed him.

"Right." He began to clear his table.

Walking out of the office, Anzu sucked in the crisp summer air, scarcely able to believe she was back in the city she loved. Her visits over the last few weeks had been secretive but there was no need to hide anymore.

It was a prefect day, blue sky, golden sun. "Atem Mutou, prepare for some competition." She spoke.

* * *

><p>It was just past one when she sauntered her way into the reception are of The New Hampshire, hoping that she looked more confident than she felt. The place had changed out of all recognition. When Anzu had worked there it had been tucked and swaged and covered with tiny sprigs of flowers.<p>

Atem had clearly moved with the times. The carpet had disappeared and so had the chintz. Now there were bare, beautiful polished wood floorboards and simple curtains at the vast windows.

She remembered how overwhelmed she felt the very first time she strolled those doors but then she was just eighteen then and over nine years ago.

Walking to the receptionist, the woman looked up and asked. "How can I help you?"

"Yes, I am Anzu Mazaki and I have a reservation for two." She replied.

"Oh yes, Mazaki, Anzu. Your guest has already arrived." She gave Anzu a polite smile. "Have you ever eaten here before?"

"No." She responded.

She just made beds and cleaned the place.

"Then I will get someone to show you to your table."

Anzu followed one of the waiters, determined not to feel intimidated. Yet her heart raced with anticipation that she might see him again.

The restaurant was almost full and Duke rose to his feet as she approached. "I was beginning to think you stood me up."

"Oh one of little faith." She joked, smiling at the waiter, who was hovering like a saucer. "Some house champagne, please. We are celebrating."

"Certainly madam." He walked away.

Duke waited until he got his second glass before speaking. "Let's hope you still have something to celebrate six months down the line."

"Meaning?" She raised a brow.

He shrugged. "Just that Atem won't be overjoyed when he finds out that you're opening a new restaurant in the same town."

"Oh?" Anzu slid a green olive into her mouth and chewed on it thoughtfully. "Everyone knows he has an awesome reputation in the catering industry, surely he is man enough to take a little competition?"

"I should image he's man enough for most things." Duke remarked, dryly. "Just maybe not on the same street."

"Anyway, I don't think I'm going to be a serious rival, am I?" She shrugged.

"True but what if the customers start coming to you?"

"It's a free country and may the best man win."

"Or woman?" Duke murmured.

Anzu looked at the menu and said, "Let's order, shall we. I'm starving."

"Sounds good." Then you can tell me about your life story." He frowned. "You know, you hair is the most amazing shade of brown. I bet you use to dress up as a princess when you were a little girl."

"No! I was the one that wore rags and never believed in a fairytale ending."

Her mother was loving but ultimately foolish.

"Let's talk about you instead and then you can tell me all about Winchester." He began to talk and his company. To make witty small talk as adults always did.

Anzu was distracted by her surroundings to be able to concentrate very much. Even on the food. Weird. She hadn't bank on Atem still having an affect on her after all these years.

"Anzu." Duke said, suddenly.

She pushed the pudding plate away from her and looked up, "Yes?"

"Why did you invite me to lunch today?" He drank a mouthful of wine and refilled his glass.

"I told you at the office." She answered.

"I guess you did but I was hoping you would have changed your mind."

"No, I haven't." She rest back in her chair. "The lunch is a thank you."

"For what?"

For tying up the deal without any complications and for keeping it a secret."

"Oh yes." He sipped his drink and watched her. "I meant to ask, why the big secret?"

"I just wanted it to be a surprise, that's all." She answered.

He leaned across the table. "You told me you never eaten here before."

"Well, I haven't."

"But this isn't the first time you have been in here, have you?"

"What makes you say that?" She asked.

"Your body language. I spent my life observing a person's body language, it comes with the job." He replied.

"I use to work here when I was young." She told him. "But that was years ago. In my younger days."

"You are not ancient." He informed her.

"I'm twenty-seventy."

"Old enough to know better?" Duke teased.

"Don't think so." Came a silky drawl from behind Anzu's right shoulder. "Not if past experience is anything to go on. Right Anzu?"

She didn't need to turn around to know was standing behind her. She would have recognized that voice in the dark a million miles away.

"Hello Atem." She said carefully.


	2. The Meeting

Anzu wondered how she sounded to him. Hopefully older and wiser? Or still full of that youthful awe?

He moved into eyeshot and looked straight at Duke.

Anzu was able to observe him without him noticing and her heart began thumping out of control before she could stop it.

She knew she had to see him again and she had been practising for just this moment.

"Duke." Atem said easily.

The lawyer inclined his head. "Atem Mutou."

"Do you two know each other?" Anzu asked Duke in surprise.

"Everyone knows Atem Mutou. He is not only the owner of the most successful restaurant in Domino but also the King of Games." He replied.

Anzu detected a change in her lunch companion. Suddenly Duke wasn't the smooth talk, slick walking lawyer earlier but an ordinary man who had just recognised the leader of the pack.

Atem finally turned to her and now she had the opportunity to react to him as she had vowed she would if she ever saw him again. Coolly, calmly and indifferently.

Her smile hadn't slip but she wondered if there was any way of telling from the outside that her heart rate had tripled or that her palms were moist and sticky with sweat.

"So Anzu." He said slowly and she met his beautiful amethyst coloured eyes with reluctant fascination.

"So Atem." She replied. Eyes flickered over him. _'Okay he hasn't gone bald, fat or ugly.'_ She thought.

"Long time no see." Atem continued. "Isn't that the cliché that people use after not seeing someone for a while?"

"I guess they do." She said slowly, thinking that nine whole years had passed since they had last seen each other.

Their gaze clashed and she found herself observing every little detail of his face; a face she had once loved, maybe even still loved.

She had known him at the beginning of his rapid rise, before success had become as familiar to him as breathing. Before he had a chance to fashion himself in his own image rather than one which had been passed down to him.

Gone was the buttoned down, clean cut and preppie look which had been his heritage.

Wearing a black choker, dark sleeveless shirt and jeans with comfortable black and white sneakers and his usually spiky hair a bit untidy, Anzu thought maybe he had just tumble out of bed after having wild sex with some beautiful girl.

Maybe he had.

The thought of that almost depressed her but she had to shake it off.

"You look like your on vacation rather than running a business." She said.

"I am not running a conventional business." He replied. "And I don't feel the need to hide behind a suit and tie any more."

There was a small, apologetic cough coming from the table and Anzu and Atem turned to Duke. She bit her lips in vexation. _'How rude of me!'_

Just because Atem had walked in, that didn't mean that the rest of the world had stopped turning even if to Anzu it had.

"Should we order coffee, Duke?" She asked him, quickly.

Duke looked like he had taken as much rejection as he can for one day.

He shook his head as he rose to his feet. "Heck, is that the time?" He glanced at his watch. "I have a client at three. Thank you for lunch Anzu. I enjoyed it."

He held his hand out to her and she took it guiltily. Suddenly she felt bad and wanted to find a way to make it up to him. "Thank you for everything that you have done Duke. Maybe we can do this another time."

"Yes." He answered. "Goodbye Atem." Duke gave a grimace as Atem clasped his fingers in what was obviously an enthusiastic hand shake. "Fantastic lunch! Wonderful food as always."

"Thank you." Atem replied.

The pair watched as Duke walked though the restaurant. Once he was out of sight Atem turned to Anzu and said, "Congratulations Anzu. You have latched onto one of the town's wealthiest and brightest lawyers."

"His bank balance and pretty face don't interest me. I chose him because he's the best in the business." She responded.

"At what business, I dare ask?"

"Not what you're thinking. He was recommended to me." She answered with a sigh just realizing that she didn't need to justify herself to him anymore. He wasn't her boss anymore. He wasn't anything expect the man who had given her such a disastrous introduction into the world of love-making and then dumped her.

"Did the person who recommended him also tell you that Duke had gone though a mud-slinging divorce which ended nasty? That he his ready and available but only if you don't mind half his salary going to his ex-wife and two children? I know that financial embarrassment tends to put off some women." Atem told her.

"You almost sound jealous." She said sweetly. "But there is no need to be Atem. My relationship with Duke is strictly business."

"I don't care about your relationship with anyone." He noticed the lack of a ring on her left finger. "I see you still single."

"Yes and happy." She informed him.

"So, what are you doing back in town Anzu?" He asked.

"Pity, I don't have the time right now to inform you but you will know in time."

Something in her manner told him she was lying.

"Nothing that can't wait."

"But I might be rushing off to an urgent meeting." She objected.

"Might be. But you are not." He breathed his voice thickening as he recalled the wasted opportunity of the night.

"You have got the pampered air of a woman who has taken the day off work." He pulled out a chair opposite her. "So, why don't I join you for coffee now that you silver-tongued lawyer has flown?" He suggested softly. "And then you can tell me exactly what you are doing here?"

* * *

><p><em>Atem and Anzu seem a little OC or a lot OC but in the later chapter you will see them returning to normal, that's if people really like the story. <em>


	3. The Business Plan

Anzu was torn between wanting to stay or leaving.

Smoothing her cream silk dress, she sat further back onto her seat. "Okay then." She answered coolly. "I will stay but I don't have to answer your question, as yet."

Atem expelled a soft breath of triumph. "You look completely different, Anzu." He observed slowly.

She gave him a disbelief stare. "Of course I do! I am nine years older, for a start. People change, especially women." And yet for a moment there she had felt like the unsophisticated teenager he obviously remembered. "And I can't look all that different seeing as how you recognised me straight away." She declared.

"Yeah." Just from one glance across a busy restaurant. He had surprised himself. Maybe it had been the unforgettable shade of her hair or the curves of her body. "Maybe you are just printed indelibly on my mind." He drawled.

"I do tend to have that affect on people," She agreed.

Atem may not know it but he had been largely responsible for transformation from chambermaid to business woman.

"So how have I changed, Atem?" She asked him.

He leaned back in the chair and took the opportunity to study her, which gave him far more pleasure than he felt comfortable with. Anzu had turned into a real head-turner, he recognised wryly, despite her unconventional looks and her even more unconventional background.

He had worked long enough in the high octane world of upmarket restaurants to recognise the deceptive simplicity of her cream silk would cost what most people earned in a month. As would those sexy high heeled shoes he glimpsed as she slid her ankle beneath the table.

Now how had she changed?

"You use to look cheap." He said honestly, not seeming to notice her frozen expression. "Now you look expensive. A high maintenance woman with expensive taste." He added. "So who paid for it? Who is the lucky guy?"

Anzu bristled. "Your mind is still living in the Stone Age, I see." She scoffed. "Women don't need a man to pay for their finery, not these days. Everything I am wearing, I paid for myself."

Atem swallowed. _'Then it was money well spent.' _

"And I see you started wearing make-up now." He commented.

"No, I am not." She said. "Let's just say the years have been good to me."

"So, when are you going to tell me why you have returned?" He asked.

"Okay, if you most know. I am celebrating."

"How very intriguing," He murmured. "Shall I guess why or are you going to tell me?"

Well he would find out soon enough, whatever she said- and then he might sit up and wipe that smile off his face.

Anzu was about to open her mouth to reply when a very beautiful woman wearing a sleek black dress carried a tray of coffee over to their table. She watched as the woman set down the tiny cups and cafetiere in front of them and the plate of thin almonds biscuits. She then heard her ask, "Anything else for you, Atem?" in a soft French accent.

"No thanks." He shook his head. His attention momentarily distracted as he watched the girl glide away.

"She seems very efficient." Anzu observed.

"Yes, she is." He replied. Anzu almost felt jealous but shake it off.

"And good looking." Now why had she said that?

"Very." He raised his eyebrows.

"But not one of the waitress, judging by the way she dressed." She probed.

He gave her a perplexed smile. "Do you want to talk about my staff, Anzu?"

He poured out the coffee, automatically offering Anzu the sugar bowl and she felt a little tug of nostalgia as she wondered whether he had actually remembered her excessively sweet tooth.

"No thanks. I have given up sugar with my tea and coffee."

"What, even when you are mysteriously celebrating?"

"It's no mystery," She sipped her coffee and smiled. "That's the reason I was having lunch with Duke. I was finishing up a deal."

"What kind of deal?" He pressed on.

"A restaurant deal, actually." She answered serenely.

"Where?"

"Right here in Domino."

His interest was stirred along with his imagination.

"Excuse me?"

"Need a q-tip? I said a restaurant. I brought the little hotel across the street and a few houses down from here." She paused for a moment. "And it's more like a tea room."

"A tea room?" He nearly laughed but something in the proud way she had said it stopped him. "How quaint," He murmured.

"I will take it as a compliment."

"It was not suppose to be a compliment." He frowned and instead of feeling angry, he felt a maddening rush of protectiveness she had always brought out in him. "Have you taken any business advice, Anzu? Seriously?"

"If only you knew how insulting that question sounded! Or maybe you do! I took advice and I did accounting at night school!" Her eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Why?"

"Do you know why that place you brought was on the market for so long?" He asked. "Because it has no parking." He didn't give her a chance to answer.

"For you information, I don't need any parking!"

"Oh really?"

"Yes really! The property happens to be on route to two tourist destination and you know how tourists love history and my place is just full of it."

There was silence for a few minutes.

"You are crazy and impetuous!" He finally spoke.

"What's the matter?" She gave him a steady and cool look. "Don't think someone of my upbringing is suited to run a business?"

"What your mother did for a living didn't concern me." He said. "But the fact that you lied to me did. The fact that our whole relationship was built on a tissue of lies, wasn't it?"

"Relationship?" She chuckled. "Oh come on Atem! To describe what we had as a relationship is not only inaccurate but it's also an insult to relationships! And I didn't lie to you, I just didn't tell you things in detail."

He sat back in the chair and studied her with his beautiful purple eyes. "So tell me. Is this whole enterprise of yours some naïve plan for revenge?"

"Revenge?" She frowned. "Atem, I am just doing something that I always wanted to do apart from dancing and when I was formulating this plan you weren't even in the equation."

"Fine then but I will tell you, I don't see your business getting very far." He informed her.

"Only time will tell!"

"I won't gloat when my prediction comes true. It's not in my nature."

"And I will be laughing all the way to the bank when it doesn't!" She replied.

"We will see." He rose from his seat and walked out of the restaurant with every female staring with puppy dogs at him expect Anzu.

"We will soon see." She leaned back into her chair. _'Why does he still have that effect on me?'_

* * *

><p>Atem stood outside of the place, took a deep breath while thinking, <em>'Why does she still have that effect over me?'<em>


	4. The History

Anzu paid her bill and then made her way out of the restaurant, trying not to notice that people were staring, and wondered if it was because she had been sitting with Atem.

It had not been the meeting she had fantasised about. She had been naïve and stupid to think that all those sparks of sexual attraction would have been extinguished over the years.

Outside the afternoon sunshine was beginning to fade and a tiny breeze had blown up which made her shivered, turning her flush to goose bumps. She turned and walked up the street towards her newly purchased future, her high-heeled shoes clipping over the familiar pavements until she stopped outside The Buttress and looked up at it. At the worn, wooden door and ancient brick- all warm and terracotta coloured in the dying light of the sun.

"I can't believe this is mind now." She said in a whisper.

The new sign would be erected tomorrow and the notices would go out in all the trade press. The restaurant had been dominating her thoughts for so long now. She had been bubbling over with excitement about all her plans and hopes for it but seeing Atem today had made her confront the fact that he still had the power to affect her in a way that no other man had ever come close to.

She felt the beat of her heart, heavy and strong as she remembered the way he looked. It was different, older, and rougher around the edges.

The first time they met he had been kind and caring to her but in a Victorian benefactor might throw a bone to a starving dog…

As a teenager, Anzu had arrived in Domino on a rainy December day, dressed in jeans, a jumper, and a worn out jacket she had picked up from a yard sale. She was soaked, her face bare from any make-up and her brunette hair was frizzing all the way down to her shoulders. As she turned the corner on Game Street Anzu had seen the welcoming blaze of The New Hampshire restaurant. It was the sort of place you would find in a story book. It was a beautiful, elegant old building with two bay trees standing in dark, shiny boxes outside. The windows were sparkly clean and the paint work gleamed. It just reeked of money.

Walking to it she clutched onto her holdall with frozen fingers, she pushed the glass doors opened and walked into the foyer, where a man had been standing at the top of a ladder, positioning a huge silver star on top of a Christmas tree.

The man glanced down at her and asked, "Can I help you?" In a deep and seductive voice.

"I am looking for work." She answered.

He placed the star carefully onto the tree before climbing down. His amethyst coloured eyes collided with her aquamarine.

"What kind of work?" He asked. His eyes narrowed.

"Anything. You name it, I can do it! I can wait tables…"

He shook his head. "I am sorry. We are a silver service restaurant." He said politely.

"Or peel potatoes?"

He smiled. "We have a full complement of kitchen staff."

"Oh." She pursed her lips together to stop them wobbling and went to pick up her holdall. "Okay then, Merry Christmas."

The man sighed. "Now your making me feel like Scrooge."

"You don't look like Scrooge." She grinned. Too cute by far.

"Ever worked as a chambermaid?"

"Chambermaid?" She question. "No but I learn fast."

"There is a hotel above the restaurant so I think you could work there depending on how old you are."

"Nearly twenty." The words came out before she could stop them and she told herself it wasn't a lie merely an exaggeration. She was after all just eighteen.

"Been travelling?" He asked, as he flickered a glance at the holdall and the worn out elbows of her jacket.

"Kind of." She had been moving around for most of her young life. She liked it that way. "My mother was a performer so we had to move around a lot when I was a child."

"Oh I see." He nodded, wondering what he was letting himself in for. "I will take you till the New Years but no longer. Do you understand me?"

"Oh thank you!" She was about to fling her arms around him.

Atem took a step back.

"Don't mention it." He growled. "What is your name?"

"It's Anzu Mazaki." She answered. "What's yours?"

"Atem Mutou."

"Should I be calling you Mr. Mutou?"

"You are only a year younger than me." He smiled gently. "So Atem will do."

"Atem," She said shyly. "Are you the boss?"

"Yes," He said abruptly. H still couldn't get use to the fact that this place was now his but then his father had only been dead a year. He looked down at Anzu and asked, "Have you eaten?"

"Not in a while." She responded.

"There is plenty of food here if you want some."

"Okay." She shrugged to." Might as well."

He took her down to the kitchen and introduced her to the staff and then found things to keep him occupied while she ate.

He had never seen anyone eat with so much greed or with so much hunger especially a woman. Yet she didn't tear at the food like an animal. Hers was a graceful greed. She savoured every single mouthful with pleasure and when she finally finished she wiped her mouth delicately with a napkin, like some sort of princess and beamed him a smile.

That smile pierced Atem's armour like a ray of sunshine hitting a sheet of ice.

As spring slid into early summer, Atem showed no sign of asking her to leave and Anzu heaved a sigh of relief because she loved the town and she loved the hotel and wanted to stay. It was the first place she called home since ever. Her mother was a stripper, spending her nights performing in run-down joints along the coast and her days mainly sleeping. In a way, Anzu raised herself up, making herself invisible as she knew how because a little girl had fitted uneasy into the kind of life her mother had.

Over the months she had spent at the hotel, Anzu developed a crush on her boss and although it wasn't as if a man like Atem would be interested in one of his chambermaids, was it?

Sometimes she caught him watching her, when he thought she wasn't looking and sometimes he would even let his guard down enough to laugh at something she said.

One day he found her in the staffroom playing cards with the waiters and he challenged her to play. Only to discover that she could beat him at ever card game he ever learnt. He was a man that admired expertise in whatever flied it was demonstrated and he seemed to look at her in a completely different light afterwards.

"Where did you learn to play like that?" He asked, watching her shuffle the cards poetry in motion.

"Let's just say I had a lot of uncles after my father died and they thought me a thing or two." She answered.

Anzu saw the hotel grow more and more popular. Everyone wanted to eat there. Then one night a famous food critic from a national newspaper came to review the restaurant. Everyone worked their socks off and they held their breath when the review came out that it was the, 'best-kept secret in Domino.'

The phones were ringing constantly and Atem planned a party to celebrate the restaurants' success.

Anzu let her hair down and wore a short, sleeveless black dress and for the entire night Atem couldn't take his eyes off her. He had never wanted someone so badly and once the coffee had been served he gave up trying to resist and slid into the seat next to her.

"Hello Anzu." He smiled.

"Hello."

They stared at each other. "Enjoying yourself?"

"Yes, I am." She answered.

He touched the sterling silver flower shaped locket she had around her neck and asked, "Who gave this to you? It's beautiful."

"My mother. She thought it was a fake so she gave it to me."

"She has excellent taste."

"Where is your mother now?" He asked.

"I honestly don't know. Last time I called her she told me she was running a bed and breakfast."

"Where is it?"

"More than likely no where you will ever go." She said.

"You look…" He became temporarily lost for words.

"How do I look, Atem?" She purred.

"Absolutely gorgeous." He said, honestly.

"Gosh!" Now she was at a lost for words. She leaned forward to plant a soft kiss on his mouth.

He nearly pulled her into his arms right there until he remembered just in time that almost everyone of his staff was watching. "We will save that for later."

"Save what?" She teased.

"That depends. What say we start with a kiss and see where we go on from there." He answered.

"Tell me when you're ready." She giggled.

"Oh I will." He murmured. "You can bet your life on it."

Before the party was over Atem and Anzu slipped upstairs and used one of the empty room where the act of making love was a disaster. It was painful and uncomfortable for her and was over far too quick for Atem. He wanted to give her beautiful body the pleasure it desired.

It was suppose to be a casual fling, nothing more. So why the hell had she kept her virginity a secret?

He slid out of bed and pulled on his jeans and T-shirt and went downstairs for a glass of milk. He noticed the party was over and thought no one was there till he saw one of his waiters, Bakura still drinking and sitting around a table.

"So did you get between her legs yet?" Bakura asked, seeing Atem coming towards him.

"Who?" He played dumb.

"Anzu. Careful there, boss, she is just reached the legal age."

Atem froze. "She's twenty."

"She's only eighteen." Bakura swigged some beer and his eyes narrowed. "Did you know her mother was a stripper? I had the pleasure of meeting her and her mother last year at a strip club where she did sexual favours for me while Anzu was at the back doing homework."

It was the final straw, the next day he sacked her before hearing her side of the story.

Remembering the days they spent together Anzu sighed before going into her new home/ business.


	5. Personal Moment

During the next week Anzu had to put thoughts Atem on the backburner since things have been so busy with the opening of her restaurant.

Sitting in her office she was finishing the menus when there was a knock on the door and a girl with straight, waist length red hair stuck her head in. "Anzu?"

"Yes, Serenity. Come in." Anzu smiled at the newest member of staff. She had hired two females to work with her for now till busniess picked up. "I can't believe we are opening tomorrow. Tell me I am not dreaming."

"You're not dreaming." Serenity answered. "Oh and Mrs. Pegasus-."

"Who?" Anzu blinked.

"The wife of the man who created Duel Monsters, she just phoned in to say she and her husband will be delighted to come tomorrow."

"Thanks Serenity." Anzu smiled.

Serenity moved closer and leaned over the desk to lower her voice, like someone about to break bad news. "By the way there is a man outside in reception who says he wants to see you."

"Hopefully it's the photographer from the Domino Times." Anzu answered, thinking how chic the young waitress looked in her pale shell coloured uniform.

Serenity Wheeler had been broke and hungry and eager to learn, just like Anzu herself had been years ago. In fact she had deliberately advertised for staff in one of the city's free newspapers as well as in local shop windows. It meant that she would end up with staff who really needed the work and people who needed to work, usually worked the hardest.

"It isn't the photographer." Serenity said.

"Who is it then?"

"Atem Mutou." She answered.

"Tell him I am busy." Anzu's heart raced. "We open tomorrow."

"I know and have already told him but he said he isn't leaving till you see him."

"Oh does he?" Anzu rose to her feet, see-sawing between exasperation and a definite sense of excitement. Quickly checking herself in the mirror which hung on the back of the door, and walked though to the foyer, where Atem was sprawled on one of the sofas. He had been reading the pink financial pages of one of the broadsheets but he lowered it onto his chest as she walked in.

He didn't move an inch as he admired Anzu's beauty and wondered why he had resisted the compulsion to come across the road to see this place for himself. Now he knew that the reason was standing right in front of him. _'Sweet Lord, she does look beautiful.'_ He thought.

She was in a plain chocolate brown dress with the necklace her mother had given her around her neck.

"Hello Atem." She tried to sound clam. "This is an unexpected pleasure. I am afraid I haven't got time to humour you at the moment."

He rose silently to his feet and she noticed that even with her highest heels on he still towered over her like a giant.

"Then make time." He said softly.

"Or what?" She met the challenge in his eyes.

"Or I will sit here and distract you the whole day."

"I would ignore you." She replied.

"No you wouldn't but you could try."

She sighed knowing he was right. Wearing a silk charcoal coloured shirt and black demin, Anzu had to admit he looked hot and there was no way she could have ignored him the entire day.

"Why are you here?" She asked.

"I only want to see what you have to offer." He mentioned as he looked around the restaurant.

"We open tomorrow." She said agitatedly. "And we are having a party. Didn't you get the invitation?"

"Yes, I did a couple days ago."

"Were you surprised?" She queried. "To get the invite?"

"A little. I didn't think I would have been the first person on your guest list-."

"You weren't. Try like a hundred and one."

"So why did you invite me?"

"I know you Atem; you would have found some way to get in so you could scoop round the competition."

"I see." He gave her a smirk. "You know me well."

"I worked around you for a year so I know some of your traits." Anzu answered.

Observing her, he said. "I see you have changed a lot. You're not the same girl that stumbled onto the back door of my restaurant nine years ago."

"My hair still gets frizzy when I get up in the morning and I walk around in my dungarees when I am not working. So I haven't change all that much since you last saw me." She answered.

"Do you?" Unthinkable he allowed the tip of his tongue to lick the corners of his mouth while admiring the beauty in front of him.

"Licking you lips?" She observed. "Doesn't your girlfriend feed you properly?"

"I am single and why are you offering?" Anzu was trilled by the news but kept her cool.

"I have got quite enough catering to be going on with. Now I think it's time for you to go." She said coolly.

"I haven't seen everywhere as yet." He objected.

"You will get to see everything tomorrow." She met his eyes. "If you are planning on coming, that is?"

He fought against his better judgement and lost. "I wouldn't miss it for the world." He murmured.


	6. Out Of The Past

"Anzu, you have worked miracles!" Mrs. Pegasus said.

Anzu smiled politely at the Creator of Duel Monster's wife, who had worked something of a miracle herself, she thought. The miracle being how she managed to remain standing after eating three rounds of smoked salmon sandwiches, four scones with cream and jam and an enormous wedge of coffee and walnut cake.

"Why thank you Mrs. Pegasus. Can I fetch you anything else?" Anzu asked.

"A cup of tea please." She replied.

"I will go and fetch it." She made her way though the restaurant, smiling at people along the way. Just by the kitchen door she passed Serenity, who was pushing her way out, bearing a tray load of vanilla butterfly cakes and slices of lemon madeira.

"What do you say?" Anzu whispered. "Do we have a success on our hands?"

"We most certainly do! I would give it a thumbs up if I didn't have my hands full." Serenity laughed. "You can sit back and relax once everyone has cleared out."

"They don't really show no signs of going, do they?" Anzu said.

"Not really. Though I suppose we shouldn't complain. Most restaurateurs complain about the trouble they have getting people in not getting them out. I better go feed the hungry masses. I will see you later." Serenity said.

In the kitchen, Mai was busy putting scones onto a beautiful bone china plate. The tall blonde saw Anzu and asked, "How many did you invite, for heaven's sake? Did no one turn you down?"

"Oh, just a couple." She said, lightly. "No one important." She had tried to tell herself that she wasn't disappointed that Atem didn't show up.

So what if she kept looking up every time the bell rang on the front door? Only to force a smile when it ended up not been him. It did mean that she loved him again, did it?

Apart from him not showing up the afternoon was a huge success.

Fetching the tea for Mrs. Pegasus, Anzu continued to mix and mingle till a female journalist came her way. "Are you allowed to serve alcohol here?" She asked.

"Oh yes. I got my drinks licences." She said, proudly. "During the winter I am going to serve wine and mince pies."

"Yum!" The journalist had said.

After a great deal of questioning a photographer took a picture of Anzu, Serenity and Mai wearing shiny black short sleeved dresses which came to the knee with cute little muslin aprons over the top.

"These are our 'special occasion' dresses!" Anzu announced. "For the high days and holidays."

* * *

><p>Once the place had cleared and everyone had gone home, the girls started to clear up the tables.<p>

"Wasn't that man supposed to come today?" Serenity asked.

"Man?" Mai did a mock double take. "Did I hear you mention a man?"

Anzu liked Mai and had been glad to give her the job. She was thirty three, attractive and blonde and almost single. Her soon to be ex husband had left her saying he wanted to spend the rest of his life with a woman he met in a hotel. He had told Mai that he was sorry for the mess he created and whatever he said to their five year old son Mokuba was anyone's guess. So far he has been unable to speak of his father without getting upset.

"Which man are we talking about?" Mai persisted.

"Anzu's friend." Serenity answered. "The tall, good looking one with the unique hair."

"He is not my friend." Anzu protested. "I don't even like him."

"Oh, don't you?" Serenity said, clearly not believing a word she said. "You were blushing the entire time he was here yesterday."

"He is just my former boss, nothing more." She informed the two.

"What's his name?" Mai asked.

"Atem Mutou." Anzu said.

"Atem Mutou? You mean the sexy one that has a restaurant across the street?"

"That's the only one I know of."

"What's he like?" Mai asked.

"He's-." Anzu spoke.

"He's standing over there." Serenity stopped her and indicated to the door.

Anzu looked over and their eyes connected and then he smiled while walking towards her.

"Hello Atem," She said weakly.

"Hello Anzu. How did it go?"

"If you had been here you would have found out for yourself."

He found the rebuke stimulating but right then he found everything about her stimulating especially in that outrageously sexy black dress with the pure white apron over the top.

"You were going to show me around the place, remember?" He gave a smile at the two other women. "But maybe you should introduce me first."

"Serenity Wheeler and Mai Valentine." She indicated to the women while calling their names. "This is Atem Mutou."

Mai and Serenity placed the plates back onto the table and said hello.

"I have been past you hotel a million times!" Serenity babbled. "But never got the chance to eat there."

"Why not?" He asked.

"It's a wee bit too expensive for us." Mai said bluntly.

Atem smiled. "People usually find it's far less expensive than they imagine. In fact it's comparable to plenty of other restaurants with lower ratings. Tell you what," He added thoughtfully. "If you want to bring a partner say Monday or Tuesday evening when we are quiet you can eat there on me."

"Gosh thanks!" Serenity beamed.

"Thank you very much!" Mai echoed.

"How about you girls go home and I will deal with everything else." Anzu suggested.

"Okay, thanks Anzu." They said. Taking up their stuff, Anzu walked them out and waved them off down the street.

She locked the door behind them and went back into the restaurant to see Atem hadn't moved.

"That was very kind of you." She said taking up the plates. "To offer Mai and Serenity a free meal."

"You don't sound surprised." He raised a brow.

"You're a good person." She said honestly as they walked into the kitchen. Placing the plates into the sink, she made a mental note to do then when Atem left.

"You still haven't told me how was the opening."

"I know." She looked him straight in the eyes, "But that's not why you're here, is it? If you were interested in the fortunes of my restaurant you would have turned up on time and seen for yourself."

"I guess I would."

"So what then?"

"You want the truth?" He asked. She nodded. "You don't need me to tell you, Anzu." His eyes never looked purpler. "I want you. I want to make love to you. Nine years ago we blew everything and I want the chance to make it right."

"Oh, I see." Her heart plummeted with disappointment. What did she expect? Him to declare his undying love for her? "Was I the one woman who didn't give you full marks on your performance? Is that what this is all about?"

"No. It's about getting rid of a desire that doesn't want to go away. Look me in the eyes and tell me that you don't want me as badly as I want you. Do that and I will leave you alone."

She couldn't. "Don't do this to me, Atem." She whispered. "Please I can't fight you."

"I don't want you to fight me." He whispered back. "I want you to give in to what you really want. You and I both know that what we had all those years ago needs to be fixed tonight."

* * *

><p>When Anzu opened her eyes it had grown dark and she blinked once or twice, wondering why she was sleeping in the guest bedroom and what had woken her.<p>

Until a slight movement set off the first trigger of recollection and memory washed over her bare skin. She remembered using muscles she had never used before. Smiling, she reached over to the lamp and turned it on.

Stretching lazily, she turned her head to see Atem pulling on his jeans, the look on his face changed from one of dark and flushed contentment to a closed and wary expression when he saw her watching him.

"Hi." He said.

She might have hoped for something less noncommittal, in view of what of what they had been doing over the last few hours.

Still. Just because that was the best sex they have ever had that didn't mean he was about to start telling her he loved her. She knew it was just sex and nothing more or less.

"Hi." She said and smiled.

Atem averted his eyes from the spectacular movement of her boobs but it was too late to stop his body from responding. He bent down to try find his watch and hoped she hadn't noticed.

He was shaken by what had happened. He had made love to her over and over again more times than he has ever done with a woman before but he had been unprepared for the power of their lovemaking. It was amazing, wonderful, and blissful; yes it had overwhelmed him in a way that was alien to him wasn't sure what to think of it.

"I didn't want to wake you." He said, hunting around for his shoes.

"Was that why you were creeping around like a thief?" He found the shoes and slipped them on.

"Actually you look so peaceful lying there that I thought I would just leave you."

Anzu sighed. She wasn't going to clutch onto his ankles to prevent him from leaving the room.

"I wonder what's the hurry?" She stopped herself, remembering that he said he was single at the moment.

Getting up she put on back her clothes. "Where are you going?"

"To show you out! Is that a crime?"

"No." He whispered.

Heading to the front door, they heard the door bell. _'Was I expecting someone this early?'_ She questioned herself.

Pulling the door open they saw Duke standing there with a foolish grin on his face.

"Hi Anzu, sorry I am late." Duke said. "I had to go to court today with a client." He nodded cautiously. "Hi Atem."

Atem gave him a grim nod as jealously rid though him.

"Come in." She said. "Atem was just leaving."

"Oh." Duke answered. Walking past the pair, Atem watched as he disappeared into the hallway.

"Words of advice." Atem spoke. "Change the sheets first."

"I am not a hoe."

Anzu was hurt by that comment and did the only thing that came to her mind. Punched him right in the nose, causing him to bleed. Closing the door, she locked it before walking away leaving Atem outside, on the street.


	7. New Information

Temperamental April drifted into glorious, golden May.

Anzu went to an auction and brought a job lot of neglected garden furniture.

Business was booming so she had to extend and put more tables outside.

The days were long and busy, with Anzu getting up at the crack of dawn to start making cakes, scones and other meals, alone.

Placing the pastry in the oven her mind drifted off to Atem. For the past couple weeks he was all she could think about. She saw him a couple times from a safe distance and once when they were both shopping at the Domino's open air market. She felt a savage jolt of recognition as she spotted his tall, dark figure across the square and could have sworn he had seen her but he didn't come over. Just walked resolutely on.

She realised what insular lives they led. Atem had his own little world and she had his. They lived on opposite sides of the same street but they might have lived on the opposite sides of the world for all that before their lives collided.

It was towards the end of May when things took a huge turn. Her period hadn't come in over a moth and she made excuses.

She had been busy/stressed/ worried. She had changed jobs/ area and homes but then a couple of days turned to weeks and her anxiety levels shot up.

Lots of women were late and it wasn't as though she could be pregnant, right? Anzu cheek's burned up as she remembered how Atem had insisted on wearing protection. Every time determined that she shouldn't get pregnant.

She floated on denial till she checked her calendar and saw that July was printed large and bold on it.

Driving to a pharmacy she picked up several pregnancy test and after using up all of them, she sighed. "I'm pregnant."

Pregnant, alone and frightened. Knowing that she ought to tell someone and know who the person should be and unable to face it.

She went to see her doctor, who destroyed her last remaining fantasy that maybe the result of all those testes been false.

"Yes, you are pregnant." The doctor smiled. "And you are a fit and healthy young woman. I can't see there being any problems. Congratulations!" She added. Anzu frown. "I do take it that congratulations are in order?"

"Yes, they are. Thank you." Anzu said.

"And the father?" The doctor asked. "Is he around?"

"Er, he doesn't know as yet."

"Well is he going to support you?" She asked.

"I don't know," Anzu answered. "But I can support myself and the baby if…" She paused.

"It's okay if you don't want to talk about it." The doctor said.

As soon as she reached home she rang up the hotel Atem had own before fear crept up on her.

The phone was answered by a sexy female voice. It was low, husky, and French.

"Hello," The lady said. "This is Francine speaking, how may I help you?"

"Um… can I speak to Atem Mutou?"

"And your name is?" She asked.

"It's Anzu Mazaki." She answered.

"Hold on please." The girl said before checking Atem. Coming back she said to Anzu, "Mr. Mutou is busy right now. Can I leave a message?"

"Can you tell him to call me as soon as possible? It's urgent."

"That's all?" Francine asked.

"That's all. He has my number and knows where I live." Anzu hung up the phone.

Deciding to take a bath, she wanted to figure out the right words to tell Atem that she was carrying his baby. Their baby.

* * *

><p>He arrived the same day when she was hanging the 'Closed' sign in the window. He was wearing a grey sweater with his black jeans. He looked curiously sombre.<p>

Anzu opened the door to him, thinking he was going to look even more sombre in a few minutes time.

"Hello Atem." She managed a smile. "Come in."

"Hello Anzu." Atem said, warily. He didn't say anything else till they reached the living room and took a seat in her single seat couch. "I was surprised to get your call."

"But you didn't." She said. "Remember? You refused to take it."

"I was in the middle of a meeting. I am up to my eyes with plans to open a new hotel. Remember? I have a business to run."

"So do I." Anzu replied.

He gave a short laugh. "This is chicken feed in comparison. Not that I am insulting your…"

"Yes, you are!" Anzu yelled.

He sighed. "You see what happens when we are together. We fight or fall into bed."

"We never use to fight." Anzu said sadly, "So what changed?"

"When we started to get physical." He answered. "So? Why did you want to see me?"

"I'm pregnant." She said bluntly.

"Congrats." Atem said. "So who is the lucky man?"

"Pardon?"

"The father." He explained. "Of your child."

Anzu shook her head in disbelief. "Why you, of course."

The expression in his eyes was chilling. "There is no 'of course' about it. I am the least likely candidate. We used protection."

"Candidate?" She selected the word hurt the most. "Are you implying that any number of men could be the father?"

"You tell me." He shrugged.

She turned to resist the urge to attack him, right then and there. "You don't honestly think that I jumped straight into bed with Duke after you and I did it?"

"Who knows what happened after I left." He answered.

Anzu started at him feeling like an animal that had been wounded.

"Get out!" She yelled. "Get out!" she closed her eyes trying to resist the urge to break down into tears. The man she had loved since the moment their eyes locked was implying that she was a hoe.

When she opened them Atem was bending over her, flapping a glossy magazine over her face.

She tried to sit up but he shook his head and restrained her with the flat of his hand pushed gently against one shoulder.

"Keep your hand off me!" She cried.

"It's a little late for that." He replied. "Would you like something to drink?"

"No! Just leave." She answered. "I can't believe your implying that I sleep around."

Sitting beside her, he held his head down. "I'm sorry."

"You should be!"

"Are you sure that I am the father?" He asked.

"Quite sure." She said, calmly.

"May I ask, how?" He cleared his throat.

"Didn't you do Biology at school?" She questioned.

"Don't be flippant at a time like this. I asked you a civil question. I would appreciate a civil answer."

"You are the only man I have had sex with." She answered.

"Since when?"

"A long time." She said, emphatically. "A very long time." He still didn't look convinced. "For about five or six years, now." She muttered.

"How many times did we do it?" He said.

"I don't remember." Anzu answered, honestly.

"How far along are you?"

"Nearly twenty two weeks."

There was a long silence. His eyes met hers. "That long?" He asked in a shocked voice.

"Think about it, Atem. You can work it out yourself." She retorted.

"It's been that long since we… since we…?"

"Made love?" She questioned. "Yes, it is."

He was shaking his head. Surely it couldn't have been that long ago? Had over twenty two weeks really passed since he told himself that he wasn't going to go near her again?

"Listen," He grated. "Maths is usually my strong point but at this moment my head is spinning. Just tell me when the baby is due."

"Early in the New year." She told him at last.

"Your kidding?"

"I wish I was."

His purple eyes bored into her blue ones. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"I don't know what I mean. Everything is just so confusing to me right now." She cleared her throat now. "Maybe it's best if we get a few things straight, Atem."

He became watchful. "Go on."

"I am not asking you for financial support." She added.

"Oh?" He stilled.

"And I am not asking for emotional support either."

"Really?" His eyes burned into hers. "Just what are you asking for then?"

"Nothing." She bit her lip. "Nothing at all."

"No money? No babysitting for the nights you want to go out"

"That's right."

"So why brother to tell me"

"Because as the father of the baby you have a right to know."

"Just no right to have any involvement in my son or daughter's life."

"But you wouldn't want any, surely?" She seem surprised.

"How do you know what I want when I don't even know myself?" He snarled.

"Atem-."

"I want time to think about this." He continued remorselessly. "We have already acted with indecent haste maybe if we hadn't then we wouldn't have found ourselves in this situation. We owe it to the baby and ourselves to work out the best options." He finished quietly.

"It's not the baby- it's my baby." She said out loud.

"My baby also." He acknowledged. "Listen this is too much to take in for one day. I have to go now."

"Of course you do." He stared at her.

"Will you be all right?"

"Yeah, I am pregnant not ill."

"Yeah," He felt a lump in his throat.

"You better go now." She said, getting up.

He got up as well. "Yes, good night, Anzu."

"When will I see you?" She asked.

"I don't know," He told her. "I honestly don't know."


	8. A Suggestion

Anzu watched as Atem left the restaurant and questioned herself as to how she got herself into this situation.

By the following day Mai was the first to storm in for work after dropping off her son.

Making their way into the kitchen wearing their work uniform, Mai had set up some hot water for tea while Anzu made her way to the four sitter table.

"Tea?" Mai walked over to her boss with a brown mug.

"Yuck! No!" Anzu moaned.

"Sympathy, then?" The blonde took a seat next to her.

"Sympathy." Anzu huffed watching Mai take a sip of the tea.

"Having a baby is a wonderful thing." Mai told her.

"How did you know?" The brunette asked.

"How?" Mia giggled. "Remember I am a mother and it is kind of hard to hide a pregnancy from another woman. I also had some knowledge of it for weeks now with the weight gain and stuff."

Letting out a sad sigh, Anzu asked. "What am I going to do?"

"Well how far along are you?"

"Twenty two weeks."

"Well it's too late to abort so…" Mai suggested.

"Mai, I would never abort a child. It's just that the father and I are not together that's all."

"Have you told him?" She questioned.

"Yes and he said we will talk about it later."

"Well that's good of him." Mai smiled. "I don't suppose you two will ever be together?"

"No, he made it clear that he doesn't want to be in a relationship with me." Anzu stated.

"I don't know Anzu, Atem seemed to have feelings for you the last time he came over here and I am not talking about lust."

"Do you have cameras in here?" The brunette joked.

"No but it is clear to me and Serenity that you two have something sexual between the both of you." She answered.

"Well right now the only thing between us is space." Anzu huffed. "So Serenity knows too?"

"Serenity knows what?" The young girl walked in with the phone in her hand. Anzu patted her belly and the younger one nodded to indicate yes. "Anyway guess who is on the phone for you?"

"A tax collector?"

"No, Atem Mutou." The green eyed brunette whispered.

Taking the phone Anzu said. "Hello."

"_Why are you so out of breath?" _Demanded a voice on the other end.

"Pregnant women do at time have loss of breath." She answered. "What do you want Atem? You don't call unless it's important."

"_Do you want to have dinner with me tonight?"_ He asked.

"What?" The request threw her of course.

"_I want to have dinner with you tonight? Are you too busy?" _

"No." She replied. "Dinner sounds lovely. Where?"

"_At my house." _

"What, your restaurant is too public for you?" She asked.

"_No, I just want to have a private conversation with you about our situation."_ He told her.

"Fine. What time do you want me to be over there?"

"_About 6. Do you want me to come for you?" _

"No, I think I can handle a five minute walk by myself."

Ending their conversation, the three ladies started their busy day at work.

* * *

><p>Minutes to six was shown on the Grandfather clock in Anzu's room. Wearing a light blue pants with a pink blouse with a single rose imprinted on it, she walked out of the building and headed to her former boss's house.<p>

Atem lived in a road just behind his restaurant, where the houses were detached and elegant, their gardens shimmering pockets of well tended lawns with carefully chosen shrubs spilling onto their gravelled paths.

Reaching Atem's home, he had opened the door before she even had the chance to knock which means that he was watching out for her and it pleased her. It implied that he was nervous too.

"Hi, glad you could make it." He opened the door to let her in.

"Thanks." She walked in.

Closing the door, Atem watched as Anzu scanned the wide hall way with its sweeping staircase and softly gleaming wooden banister.

"Is something wrong?" He noted.

"It's just that you have never invited me over to your house before for all the months I was working for you and I bet if we had not gotten ourselves in this situation I would never have been given the chance to step though the front door."

"Who knows?" He said.

"I do. You were the boss and I was the chambermaid." Anzu answered.

"And was I a good boss?"

"You never seem to want to go home." She responded. "You were the original workaholic."

"I never wanted to go home since you made working late the most attractive prospect I could imagine… well nearly." He said.

"Come though." He gestured to a door at the end of the corridor. "To the kitchen."

Walking towards the room she saw it was a huge kitchen with a scrubbed pine table and an enormous old fashion range.

"It's a beautiful room." She stated.

The French windows were opened, leading out onto a garden which was still blur of mauves and pinks and blues, although the brilliant greens of high summer were gone. She turned around to see Atem studying her.

"What would you like to drink? I have fruit juice or mineral water, if you prefer that." He suggested.

"No, I am fine." He sighed.

Sitting around the table she said. "Okay Atem, let's talk about the real reason I am here. What about the baby?"

"Well I am suggesting that you stay here till the baby is born."


	9. Anzu!

"I am not sure I heard you properly, Atem." Anzu stated thunderstruck by the suggestion.

"You can come and live here." He explained kindly. "My home will become your home."

"When you say live here…" Anzu hesitated as quiet hysteria gave her the temptation to giggle. "What exactly do you mean?"

His eyes were wary. "It sounds straightforward to me."

"Not to me. I am interested in knowing what role I am expected to play."

"What role?" He repeated cautiously.

"Sure. Will I be your partner, in the full sense of the word?" She explained. "Or will I be the heavily pregnant woman you will have to explain to your girlfriends when you bring them over."

"Anzu!" He exclaimed,

"What?! Atem, we are not together and I don't expect you to be single just because I got pregnant." She stated.

Changing topic he said, "You still haven't answered my question about living here."

"I am starving. Let's eat first then I will give you an answer."

"Do you want to stay in here or go outside?" Atem asked.

"Outside."

"Then let's go."

Anzu carried out the chequered cloth he gave her and sped it over the grass, while Atem carried the food and water on a silver tray.

Sitting down he gave a hand full of sandwiches which Anzu devoured it with an appetite which took him right back to that day when she had arrived at the workplace… so cold and wet and hungry. The sense of protectiveness he had felt towards her back then didn't compare to what he was experienced now.

"Do you always eat that much these days?" He enquired, once she paused eating to breath.

Eating the last one, she answered. "Not usually. It's this pregnancy business."

"So tell me about this pregnancy business." Atem smiled at her.

"Sometimes you feel so sick that that you tell yourself that you will never eat again just so you won't be able to get sick again."

"And then?"

She shrugged. "Then the baby must send some signal to the brain to devour every food in sight and then some. I feel like one of those beasts on a nature film."

He chuckled at the statement. "So have you thought about what I suggested earlier?"

The eighteen year old Anzu would have jumped at the chance to but now she was no longer eighteen and deeply in love with him, she was twenty something and deeply in love with him.

"I have and the answer is no." She replied.

Even though she loved him still even after nine years, Anzu felt he didn't feel the same way and knew this complex situation wouldn't work out.

"Alright then." He respected her decision.

"Since that is out of the way the next item on the agenda is what are we going to tell people about this predicament?" Anzu asked.

"Whatever you want to tell them."

"So if I tell people you are the father, you won't mind?"

"Why should I? They are going to find out soon enough because as soon as the baby is born I will apply for custody."

"Excuse me?" She looked at him.

* * *

><p>"He said what?" Mai asked as she and Anzu sat in the office of her restaurant.<p>

"Atem said…" The brunette took a deep breath. "He said that is going to try and take my baby from me once he or she is born."

"But he can't do that." Mai said.

"Who say he can't? He is from a prominent background while I was a girl from the wrong side of the track. Oh Mai, what am I going to do?"

"You are going to stop acting like you already lost then you go find a damn good lawyer." The blonde suggested.

"Your right. I can do this and beat Atem at whatever game he is playing." Anzu took a deep breath. "I am going to make a couple phone calls. Can I leave the fruit cakes to you?"

"Consider it done." Mai said with a quick glance at her watch. "Listen Serenity will be here soon so why don't you take the rest of the day off?"

"Thanks boss!" Anzu joked before Mai existed the office.

After talking to a lawyer Anzu stepped outside for some fresh air and to talk to the bastard that was at the centre of her problem.

* * *

><p>It was twelve thrity and Atem was sitting in his office, drumming his fingers against his desk.<p>

He had spent the last hour attempting to dictate letters to his secretary, but his words made no sense and in the end he had grown tried of her surprised look.

"Let's finish this in the morning." He said.

"Certainly." His secretary had given him a polite smile. "Can I fetch you some aspirin or something, Atem? You seem a little under the weather."

"Nothing." He answered.

Hearing the upset tone in his voice, the secretary excused herself from the room and shut the door on the way out.

Getting up, he looked though the window and pinpointed a woman across the street. Standing in front of Anzu's restaurant was no other than the owner. She was the only one seen outside.

How could he have done such a thing to her? What was he thinking?

Angry at himself, Atem curled his left hand into a fist and hit the window and Anzu looked up to see him.

He looked into her eyes and saw surprised anger and sadness.

Making his way downstairs quickly, Atem met the soon to be mother in front of the restaurant.

"I need to talk to you." She said. "I have spoken to a lawyer today-."

"Anzu-."

"Shut up!" She told him tiredly. "You listen to me! The lawyer told me that you have no right to this baby unless we are married. Okay?"

"Okay." He agreed softly.

"We need to learn to co-operate if you want to see this baby."

"And if you decide not to co-operate?" He asked.

"Then you can take me to court and I will easily deny that the baby is yours."

"You would do that?" Atem took a step back.

"I would do anything to stop you from taking my child. This is my child there is no way I will let you take it from me." She started to breath heavily.

"Anzu, clam down." Atem suggested as she started to hyperventilate.

"No! You started this and I am finishing it."

"Anzu, I don't want to take the baby from you. I was just scared." He admitted.

"I don't care." She uttered before fainting.

Atem caught her before she hit the ground.

"Anzu!" He called out.


	10. A New House Guest

Everything was white, clean and pure.

Anzu opened her eyes and it took a while for everything to clear up.

"Anzu." Came a low, anguished voice that she knew and ought to recognise.

Look to her left she saw Atem, sitting beside her with a worried expression on his handsome face. "Atem? Where am I?"

"You're at a hospital." He answered, holding her left hand gently.

Hospital? The last thing she remembered was having an argument with Atem then pain in her belly and blood, the feeling of blood running down her tights.

"Oh my God!" She yelled. _'Did I lose the baby?' _

"Hold on while I go fetch the mid wife." Atem quickly got up.

Watching him exist the room for a moment the brunette looked around the larger than normal hospital room that all the usual equipments.

She saw that her clothes had been folded neatly onto of a table stand near the bed she was lying on and that she was in hospital clothing.

Seeing Atem entering the room with a lady who had long black hair, honey coloured eyes and fair skin colour, Anzu asked. "What happened? Did I lose the baby?"

"No," The midwife answered. "You didn't have a miscarriage. Anzu, you had what is known as placenta praevia. Which means the placenta is lying very low in your uterus. The risk is that it will rupture and tear." Her face grew serious. "And if that were the case, then obviously both you and the baby would be put in danger. But after assessing you, the doctors said it would be a small risk. I explained it to your partner."

Anzu opened her mouth to explain the situation but after looking at Atem's face saw that it wasn't worth it.

"Alright." She said in relief.

"There is no need for any treatment other than res. Do you understand, Anzu?" The mid-wife asked.

"Yes, I understand."

"No lifting, riding bicycles or sex!" She stated also.

Anzu had never blushed so deeply in her life. She looked at Atem to help her out but his mouth only made it ten times worst.

Taking a seat beside the bed, he asked. "You are talking about penetrative sex, I presume?"

Now it was the mid-wife turn to be embarrassed. "Yes. Obviously."

"What about my business?" Anzu put in hastily.

"Just how important is this baby to you?" She asked.

"More important than anything in the world." She told her truthfully.

The lady hid a smile. "Good that is all I needed to know."

* * *

><p>Atem waited until she was safely strapped into his car before reinforcing what they had heard. "You heard the doctor. You need to rest."<p>

Hearing the engine start and the car moving off Anzu answered. "I heard but still have a business to run. I can't pretend that it doesn't exist."

"Don't worry about that. I have it all taken care of." He replied.

"How?"

"I have a few ideas but let's wait till we reach the destination before discussing them." Atem said.

* * *

><p>Reaching in front of his house, Anzu asked. "What was wrong with my house?"<p>

"My house was nearer." He answered. "Plus it is more private since your house is above your restaurant."

"True." She saw his point.

Heading towards the kitchen, Atem handed her a glass of water before both sat down around the table for a serious discussion.

"I have a proposition to put to you." He said.

"Go on." She encouraged him. "Just know I still haven't changed my mind about living here."

"I know that is why I am thinking about me staying with you till the baby is born."

"Can you go into more details please?" She wasn't getting the point.

"Will since you are under stress I was thinking about staying with you and helping you run your business till you can do it by yourself again." Atem added.

"And who is going to run your own?" Anzu asked.

"The general manager."

"That sounds like a good idea." She thought about it. "Just know that I only have three bedroom over there and apart from mine none of them are as big as the ones in your house."

"It's alright."

* * *

><p>Mai and Serenity giggled like schoolgirls when Anzu broke the news to them.<p>

"Atem Mutou is going to be working here?" Serenity smiled.

"For how long?" Mai asked.

"Until I get back on my feet." The brunette replied.

"Image having that sexy piece of work over here everyday." Serenity started to get red.

"Hush and make us a cup of tea." Anzu laughed. "And take a cold shower while you're at it."

"Girl, all I am saying is that you better hurry up and tell him how you feel before someone else does." Serenity got up. "From what I heard he is single and looking a certain shoulder length brunette but doesn't want to admit it."

"Please, I have known Atem for years and he has never been shy about his feelings." Anzu responded.

"Just saying. He likes you a lot and a girl can tell when a guy is hooked." Serenity headed into the kitchen.

"She got one thing right. Atem is hooked on you even if he acts like a jerk sometimes." Mai said. Anzu indicated for her to change topic. "So let me get this straight. He is going to be staying here?"

"That's right. I will still have my room and he will sleep in one of the spare bedrooms." Anzu said.

"Won't that just fuel his fantasies, having you so close?"

Anzu shot her an incredulous look. "You are kidding, right? I don't think he will be having fantasies about a woman who is as large as a mountain."

She pointed to her already huge belly.

"What was that?" Came an interested male voice as Atem walked into the office.

"Oh nothing." Anzu said.

"Just discussing my fantasies, were you?" He enquired idly.

"I will go help Serenity with the tea." Mai strutted herself out of the room.

"Let me show you to your room." Anzu got up.

"Lead the way." He replied.


	11. Confession

For the first week of Atem living with Anzu, both were walking on eggshell. Every morning when he woke up, seeing her, been so close to her just increase his dreams of them been a family. Her, him and their child or children. That's of she wanted him or more children.

To give her space he went over to the hotel to shower and shave once both Mai and Serenity came to work.

Anzu thought he meant that her bathroom was too small, which it was and didn't want to offend her.

She wanted to talk to him so Anzu waited till the restaurant was closed and the girls had gone home before going to the office and saw Atem, wearing a tux doing some paperwork for his restaurant.

"Is everything alright?" She asked.

"Yeah, everything is alright. It is just the extra work load." He took his eyes off the papers and onto her.

She looked so beautiful in a simple sleeveless white dress that reached to the floor.

Taking a seat, she said. "I can't see you living here when all you are going to do is cook and serve me tea then go into another room like a paying guest who isn't paying."

"So do you want me start paying?" He asked.

"No." She shake her head. "You are the father of my child and I feel like I don't know enough about you."

"That's strange since you know more about me than any other woman on Earth expect my mother." He told her.

"Really?" Anzu looked surprised.

"Yes. You know my age, birthday, the name of my parents and what I like from what I dislike plus several other things that other women never took the time out to listen to."

"Wow." She blushed. "Well I think you know more about me than any other guy now."

"What about your previous relationship?" He asked. "None of them lasted long enough to for them to get to know everything about you?"

"No." She answered. "What about you have you ever been so close to someone to the point where you have gotten married?"

"Never. Ever been in love?"

'_With you.' _She thought. "What is love?"

"Cynic." He replied. "Well I have been in love once but now…"

Atem was cut off when Anzu starting to groan. "Ow."

"Anzu are you alright?" He asked, worried.

"Yeah, I am fine." She rubbed her belly. "I just felt the baby kick a while ago."

Atem wanted to get up and touch her but didn't want to crowd her. He looked at her and saw all the things that attracted him to her when they first met. "Okay."

"Do you want to take a break and play some cards?" She asked. "I am a bit rusty though."

"Don't worry. I will play with a handicap."

Getting up he walked over to Anzu to help her up. Holding onto her hand, he helped her up and their eyes locked.

"Atem." She held her breath.

"Anzu…" He said. "I have to say, no woman has affected the way you have. On any level."

"And what if I told you that I was only with one man after you and I first made love all those years ago."

"And did he love you?" He asked, never parting from her hand.

"Yes, he did. Very much." Anzu looked into his beautiful purple eyes.

"But you never loved him?" Atem added.

How could she when for nine years Atem was the only man she ever loved.

"No, I didn't."

"Anzu, throughout this entire experience it has made feelings for you even more clear."

"And what feelings are those?" She was afraid to get her hopes up.

"That I want you. I need you in my life, beside me."

She loved him. She knew that and a part of her felt like he loved her too but Anzu didn't want to put words into his mouth.

"What are you saying, Atem?"

"I am saying that I am in love with you, Anzu." He told her. "I love you and if I wasn't so dense then I would have admitted it a whole lot sooner.

"I love you too, Atem." The brunette confessed and placed her free hand on his chest. "Oh Atem."

He stroked her hand. "Yes?"

"This is what we would have been like if we had stayed like this all those years ago?" She said.

He shook his head. "No Anzu. We were both too young and I was too arrogant and you were…"

"What?"

"Too good for me!" He said fiercely. "You were and still are too good for and I don't deserve you."

Anzu smiled and didn't brother to correct him. After all it didn't hurt for a man to respect the woman in his life.

"So is this the part where we kiss and get together?" She asked.

"Only if you want to? I have wanted to kiss you for so long now but never want to force you into anything you don't want to do." He answered.

"Then kiss me." She whispered loud enough for him to hear.

He didn't need to be told twice and leaned forward to clash his lips onto her, confirming and sealing their new relationship.


	12. Suprises

Anzu was now in her last trimester with Atem constantly dotting on her hand and foot. With only three weeks to go the couple wanted to make sure that everything was ready just in case the baby decides to come early.

Carrying a trap with a variety of fresh fruits to her room, the main thing on his mind was how was he going to ask her the question that would put an end to one chapter of their relationship and the beginning of another one.

Reaching Anzu's room he saw the brunette beauty lying on the bed, sleeping peacefully. Standing by the doorjamb, he memorised every inch of her for what seemed like forever.

"See something you like, Atem?" Anzu questioned with a smile on her face.

Seeing that her eyes were still closed he smiled and asked. "How did you know I was here?"

"Your cologne." She opened her eyes and looked at him with a smiled. "It's the same brand you had on when we first met."

"You would be right." He walked over to her. "And no, I didn't see anything I like, I am looking at someone I love."

Positioning himself onto the bed, Anzu moved over a little to give him space.

"I can't wait for this baby to come out. I feel like a huge blog better yet I feel like a moutain." She stated.

"Only three weeks left, sweetheart." Atem reminded her.

"If I'm lucky since a pregnancy can end up been over due but there is a few things that we still need to discuss before he or she comes."

Atem looked at her and said. "What would those things be?"

"We still don't have a name for the baby, hello!" She gently hit his hand.

"I guess with both of us working we forgot about a name." He playfully hit his forehead.

"Well if it's a girl, I like the name Tea for the first name and Elizabeth as the second no… how about Mona and Monica?" She suggested.

"And if it's a boy I like the name Yugi and Solomon." Atem stated.

"Isn't Yugi the name of your younger brother that died a couple months after his birth and Solomon after your Grandfather?" Anzu asked.

"Yes, you remembered, even after all these years." He was kind of surprised by it.

"Yes, almost everything you about yourself and family, I remembered."

"That was easy. I kind of wish we had taken the chance and found out the gender of the baby when we did the ultrasound. It would have been easier to buy clothes instead if unisex clothes."

Anzu thought about it for a while then shook her head. "No, I don't like surprises but this pregnancy will be an expectation."

"Since you don't like surprises you won't like what I have in store for us tonight." He smirked.

"And what do you have planned for us tonight?" She raised a brow.

"That my dear will have to wait till tonight." Atem planted a kiss on lips.

* * *

><p>"That was the best date of my life, so far." Anzu told Atem as the two strolled down the beach. The water washed onto their bare feet.<p>

Anzu wore a simple sleeveless dress with pale pink as the colour. It swipe the sand as the pair walked while Atem wore a slightly loose fitting black pants with a simple blue shirt.

"So you see not all surprises are bad." The male told her.

"True." Anzu nodded in agreement.

"Since you loved that one, I hope you will like the other one that I have in store for you." He told her.

"When are you planning on asking me?" The brunette looked at him.

"Tonight and don't worrying it is something that I know will make you happy." Atem stopped walking.

Anzu did the same and turned to face him. "Atem, what is the matter?

"Nothing is the matter. It's just that since the first day you walked into my life you have been the only girl that has affected me in such a way."

"Positive way, right?"

"Yes in a positive way. I been in love with you since the moment we first met and that feeling has never disappeared even when you left and over the few you came back to Domino… I realized that I don't just want you in my life. I need you in it."

"Oh Atem…" Atem felt her heart fluttered.

She had an idea of what he was going to ask her but didn't want to jump to any conclusions as yet.

"Will you do me the honour of been my wife." She was right. "Marry me?"

Almost at a loss for words, the only thing she could think of doing was nodding.

Atem slid the ring onto her left middle finger and smiled at how the girl he has known for so many years was at a loss for words for the first time in her life.

"It… it looks so beautiful but it doesn't compare to the feeling of joy I have for you and I been together for the rest of our lives." Anzu finally spoke.

"You better believe it. You and I forever and beyond." He hugged her waist and spanned Anzu around till she screamed out.

"Aw!" She yelled.

Atem placed her down and quickly asked. "What is the matter? Is it the baby?"

"Yes, it's the baby. It's coming. Now! Now! Now!" She placed her hand onto her belly.

"Are you sure?" He asked.

Grabbing his shirt, Anzu yelled. "Does it look like I am unsure to you?"

Picking her up bridal style, Atem ran to the car and rushed to the nearest hospital.


	13. Don't Wake Me Up

"Anzu, you need to calm down." Atem told her as she pasted up and down her hospital room.

Looking at her fiancé, who was in blue hospital gear sitting on a chair.

"I will calm down when this baby comes out of me!" She yelled. "Where are those damn doctors?!"

"They will be here shortly but for right now you will just have to wait till you are fully dilated." Atem rose from his chair. Going over to his love, he wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Atem, it hurts. I just want him or her so the pain will go away." The brunette rested her head on his chest.

"I will I could make it go away, my sweet but for right now bear with it." He whispered to her. "You wouldn't want to go through this again, right?"

"Of course I want to have more children with you. The pain is more than anything I have ever experienced." She explained. "At least we knew he or she will be a stubborn one since it doesn't want to come out."

"Do you want to lie down now and wait till the doctors come?" He asked.

"No, I want to stay in your arms. Aw!" Anzu yelled.

"I need a doctor right now!" Atem called out, holding Anzu tightly.

One doctor and two nurses rushed into the room a few minutes later to Anzu in serious pain. Atem was whispering some song to her to calm Anzu down. It was working a little bit but not a lot.

"Ms Mazaki just lie down on the bed please." A doctor instructed her.

Atem decided to carry her to the bed and placed her down, gently.

Looking at his fiancée, he saw her sweating and face told him that she was in so much pain.

Going to her side, he felt her hand wrap around his and squeeze it tightly.

"Okay, push on three." A nurse told her.

Anzu mouthed the numbers till she reached three and began pushing.

After two pushes, the doctor told the couple. "Guys, I see a head. Just two more pushes."

Anzu pushed a few more time till the baby came out.

Atem looked over at the baby and saw that it was a girl. "It's a girl." He told her. "Our baby is a girl."

Anzu smiled till she felt a sudden urge to push again.

"I need to push again!" She told the doctor.

"Maybe it the placenta, coming out." He told her.

One of the female nurses took the baby from the doctor and examined her till a cry was heard coming from her mouth.

Anzu pushed hard.

"Our baby is so beautiful." Atem told her.

"Where is she?" Anzu wanted to see her baby.

"One of the nurses is cleaning her up right now." He replied.

"I see another head coming out!" The doctor told them.

"What?!" The couple looked at him.

"Another baby is coming out. Anzu push!"

She did as told and pushed till the baby came out. Atem so stocked by the news looked at the baby and saw that it was a boy this time.

The nurse only smiled at the young man's surprised expression and told Anzu that it's a boy.

Hearing him starting to cry, the reminding nurse took the baby and went to clean him up.

"Okay, push again. We need to get out the placenta." The doctor informed her.

Taking a deep breath, Anzu pushed again and felt something coming out. Something like… like another baby.

"Another baby is coming out." The doctor called out.

Atem nearly collapsed from the news. The nurse holding his baby girl walked up to him and placed her hand on his back.

Atem looked down at her and saw his beautiful baby wrapped up in a pink blanket.

"Take her, please."

Atem nodded and held her. She had fairly tan skin, purple eyes and curly brown hair.

A few minutes later another boy came out.

* * *

><p>It was now eight in the morning and in Anzu's room, there was three babies laying on the bed with Anzu and Atem sitting on a chair looking at them.<p>

"They look so beautiful." Anzu codded.

"Yes, they do." Atem replied. "Girl looks like you a little."

"Expect for the eyes and skin tone." She told him. "And the boys look kinda like you."

The boys were identical twins.

"Expect one of them has blue eyes and the other has purple so it is going to be a lot easier to tell them apart." He told her.

"I wonder how come the doctors didn't pick up the others though." Anzu wondered.

"While you were yelling, the nurses explained one of the boys was behind the other so that's why they didn't pick one while our little princess was in the corner near the vaginal canal." He told her.

"Well I called Mai and Serenity this morning that we need extra clothes and right now they are on a shopping spree with my credit card." Anzu informed him.

He laughed. "While they are doing that, we need to come out with another name for the boys."

"How about Yami? It rhythms with Yugi." Atem suggested.

"That could work." Anzu smiled. "So we have Monica, then Yugi and Yami."

"You still want to have more children?" Atem joked.

"Three is enough." She smiled. And out of the three I bet Monica will have you wrapped around her little finger."

"Why would you think that?" He held Anzu's hand.

"It's only logically. Every father I know that has one girl, the girl has him wrapped around her finger because she is Daddy's little princess."

"Maybe but the only thing that matters to me right now is getting them everything they need and be the best father and husband ever." He told her.

"You will be. Now all we need now to do start managing our assets and hope by the time they are ten we will have enough bedroom for them to have their own space."

"True." Atem stroke her cheek. "And once we get married we will be a family."

"I don't think I want to go through all the stress of planning a wedding especially with three babies and a restaurant to run."

"That's why some of my workers will stay over to your place till we get everything figured out."

"I would like that. Everything seem so prefect, if this is a dream don't wake me up." Anzu leaned forward and planted a kiss on his lips.

Atem returned it with both not worrying about the future.


End file.
